NRI proclaimed offenders may lose properties soon

Non-Resident Indians who have been declared proclaimed offenders (POs) in cases against them may soon have lose their properties. The police have decided to attach the properties of NRI proclaimed offenders. There are at least 25 NRI proclaimed offenders from Ludhiana.

The police have decided to take this step as all their efforts to bring back NRIs to appear in court hearings have gone futile. A plan has been made by NRI wing of police in which a list of proclaimed offenders would be issued after which the process would be initiated to attach their properties.

NRI police station SHO Beant Juneja said that some harsh measures were required to force NRIs to face trials. He said that it was very difficult to bring these NRIs back to India.

Red corner notices have also been issued against many of these proclaimed offenders by the Interpol on request of the Punjab Police but even then these NRIs have escaped the police net.

“Since long there has been no extradition of any proclaimed offender Indians who live abroad as the process of extradition is slow and cumbersome,” said Juneja.

Juneja said that the properties of the NRI POs have already been identified in Ludhiana and the process was on to attach them. “We are in a process to obtain revenue records of these properties and all legal formalities would be completed after which the properties would be attached,” he said.

The state government recently separated NRI police station from police commissionerate so that complaints related to NRIs could be registered at this police station.